Currency facts
History of the Swedish Crown
The Swedish Krona (SEK) was introduced in 1873, replacing the Swedish thaler, which had been the prevailing currency in Sweden since 1776, the year the coin unification reform was carried out. Sweden then joined the Scandinavian Monetary Union together with Denmark and Norway, establishing a single currency. The new currency was pegged to gold and functioned unchanged until the outbreak of World War I in 1914. The problems associated with the outbreak of war forced the abandonment of the gold standard and changes in monetary policy. In 1933, the Riksbank (Swedish’s central bank) abandoned the gold standard and pegged the Swedish Krona to the Pound sterling and later to the US currency. This link remained until the dissolution of the Bretton financial system Woods . Then, in 1991, Sweden makes the exchange rate of its currency dependent on the value of the European currency. In 2003, a referendum was held to vote on the adoption of the European currency, but the people of Sweden stood against the adoption of the single currency.
What does the Crown exchange rate depend on?
The position of the Swedish currency depends on the strength of the Swedish economy, i.e. to a large extent on the prices of raw materials that are extracted in this country. Sweden is one of the largest suppliers of iron ore, but also zinc, copper, copper, tungsten, and uranium. An equally important part of the country’s economy is the timber industry. The monetary policy pursued by the Swedish Central Bank is characterized by stability, and the overall objective of the conducted activities is to maintain the inflation rate at the level of 2%.
SEK as a digital currency
Despite the obligations resulting from Sweden’s accession to the European Union, the country remains outside the Eurozone. In 2003, a referendum was held in which 56% of voters were against the introduction of the Euro. The rulers did not decide to introduce the European currency due to the referendum in which the inhabitants opted for staying with the current currency. For this reason, a pilot project of e-crown, i.e. a digital currency to supplement cash, has been launched. In 2010, öre coins were also abandoned because their production was unprofitable. Cash payments are rounded up to the full amount to encourage payment by wire transfer or payment card.
Denominations of Swedish banknotes and coins
The Swedish Krona is defined by the currency code SEK and the symbol kr, it functions in the decimal system, and the following coin denominations can be found in circulation: 1 Krona, 2 Kroner, 5 Kroner, 10 Kroner.
In addition to coins in Sweden, we can also come across the following banknotes: 20 Kroner, 50 Kroner, 100 Kroner, 200 Kroner, 500 Kroner, 1000 Kroner.
